Potential loss of employment

[Reddrocket07]

I received word from my employer that I among others may lose their job come May. I work in public education and our lovely state govenor may be cutting education spending by 15-20%. As a result, I will more than likely lose my job since collective bargaining rights were taken away. Even if I keep my job, my income may be severely reduced. Estimates project about a 35% loss of my overall salary with an increase in healthcare and pension contribution by 20%. Regardless of what happens, the future looks grim for me financially.

I know many of you have gone through similar or worse, so please do not feel as if I am belittling your situation. I just dont know what to do about mine. Im also finishing up my graduate degree, which will not benefit me an anyway now given the public education climate of my state.

Has anyone lost their job while in the middle of a 13 repayment plan? If so, what happened with your 13? Was it converted to a 7? I worry about losing my home, car, and not being able to find a job.

[espo1357]

I received word from my employer that I among others may lose their job come May. I work in public education and our lovely state govenor may be cutting education spending by 15-20%. As a result, I will more than likely lose my job since collective bargaining rights were taken away. Even if I keep my job, my income may be severely reduced. Estimates project about a 35% loss of my overall salary with an increase in healthcare and pension contribution by 20%. Regardless of what happens, the future looks grim for me financially.

I know many of you have gone through similar or worse, so please do not feel as if I am belittling your situation. I just dont know what to do about mine. Im also finishing up my graduate degree, which will not benefit me an anyway now given the public education climate of my state.

Has anyone lost their job while in the middle of a 13 repayment plan? If so, what happened with your 13? Was it converted to a 7? I worry about losing my home, car, and not being able to find a job.

I haven't lost my job (in a 13 right now), but the minute I do, I will convert to a 7 UNLESS the 13 is over 3/4 complete.

So, UI will not cover the cost of your home, etc?

Regardless, the first step is call the attorney and go from there.

If you lose the job, as a teacher, then you could move, right? Teaching is one of the most stable jobs in the country.

It seems like you love your home, but if it is going to break you, then maybe you need to consider moving on?

You have options. Don't panic!

[Flamingo]

I received word from my employer that I among others may lose their job come May. I work in public education and our lovely state govenor may be cutting education spending by 15-20%. As a result, I will more than likely lose my job since collective bargaining rights were taken away. Even if I keep my job, my income may be severely reduced. Estimates project about a 35% loss of my overall salary with an increase in healthcare and pension contribution by 20%. Regardless of what happens, the future looks grim for me financially.

I know many of you have gone through similar or worse, so please do not feel as if I am belittling your situation. I just dont know what to do about mine. Im also finishing up my graduate degree, which will not benefit me an anyway now given the public education climate of my state.

Has anyone lost their job while in the middle of a 13 repayment plan? If so, what happened with your 13? Was it converted to a 7? I worry about losing my home, car, and not being able to find a job.

We filed in early April 2002; my employer went bankrupt in early May and doors closed mid-May of 2002. Our attorney advised me to get a job ASAP which I did but at $6,000 less per year. I started the job the day after our confirmation hearing in June of that year. My attorney handled everything at the confirmation hearing and the trustee requested a modification of the plan due to the income drop. If I was unable to obtain a job, I am sure we would have had to file Chapter 7 and we would have lost our house.

If one loses their job in a Chapter 13, your plan will require you to keep making payments even though you lost your job (ours did). You cannot do anything until you are actually let go if and when that happens. Once you have your paperwork in hand that you were let go, then you contact your attorney because you may have severance involved and reimbursement of any sick or vacation time - all that will factor in. All you can do at this point is to continue forward and see if you actually are let go.

[espo1357]

It is a stressful situation, and I am sorry to hear that you are going through this.

But, if you just take things day by day, you will be fine. Continue to budget and spend only on stuff you need, and I am sure things will work out. Teaching is a wonderful job to have, and many skills are transferred if you can't find a full time teaching job.

Good luck.

[helpme2010]

Your governor is a dirtbag. I am watching this on the news everyday. I feel for you. Nothing is secure anymore, including a job, a bank account, or even social security/retirement.

[Billssuck]

This happened to us but unfortunately or fortunately (it matters how you look at it) we modified our ch13 to surrender our house which is best for our financial future.

Like you, when we got word that my husband was being laid off, we contacted our lawyer. He said that until we had the actual paperwork in hand and that the job loss had actually happened, nothing can go forward. So we waited until it did happen and let him know. Now I was able to pick up the difference in his old income and unemployment at my job for about 5 months so we did nothing to our ch13. But once that good deal was over and my husband hadn't found a job yet, we decided it was time to let the house go and modified our plan with his new income. Long story short, my husband did eventually get a new job (but that was now 3 jobs ago...so many crooked employers out there these days) and he just started another new job this past Monday. So...with nothing being very stable for him work wise, giving up the house was best.

Look at modifying your ch13 versus converting to a ch7 carefully if the job loss does happen. It ended up for us, that it was cheaper in the long run to stay in the ch13 rather than convert because we first would have had to pay all the attorney fees for the ch13 (a big portion paid through the plan) and then also pay the ch7 fees upfront before he would convert. If you notice my signature, I only pay $125 a month and for only 3 years, so it was cheaper to stay in the ch13. Plus if you have anything that can be disputed in a ch7, that would arise (for me, I have about $10,000/year in business expense money coming in, it's looked at much closer in a 7 vs a 13. Lots to think about....

Best of luck to you and just keep making those plan payments no matter what!

[Reddrocket07]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Everything is really up in the air until the 15th. I should find out if I definately lost my job or not.

Yes John Kasich is a dirtbag. I dont consider myself Republican or Democrat, but he is a dirt bag plain and simple. All state employees will loose collective bargaining rights and pay more into their health care premiums...except for the State Highway Patrol. Why? Because they publically backed Kasich during the election race. I think if this is really about saving money for our state and tax payers, then there should be no room for the State Highway Patrol to keep theirs. At least ethically that is.


I think its funny now that many of the people who voted for Kasich are complaining about SB5. Ironic isnt it?

Sorry, I went off on a tangent there...

We currently pay $570.00 a month on our plan. It's currently deducted out of my paycheck alone because my wife was too embarrassed to have it deducted from hers. I just hate calling my lawyer for advice because I always get notice in the mail that they jack up the overall cost of my repayment plan and then my lawyer sends me a copy of the document that I receive from the Chp. 13 trustee and bills me for that as well.

[DorothyHick]

Well goodluck to your job but hopefully the result is in your side

[espo1357]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Everything is really up in the air until the 15th. I should find out if I definately lost my job or not.

Yes John Kasich is a dirtbag. I dont consider myself Republican or Democrat, but he is a dirt bag plain and simple. All state employees will loose collective bargaining rights and pay more into their health care premiums...except for the State Highway Patrol. Why? Because they publically backed Kasich during the election race. I think if this is really about saving money for our state and tax payers, then there should be no room for the State Highway Patrol to keep theirs. At least ethically that is.


I think its funny now that many of the people who voted for Kasich are complaining about SB5. Ironic isnt it?

Sorry, I went off on a tangent there...

We currently pay $570.00 a month on our plan. It's currently deducted out of my paycheck alone because my wife was too embarrassed to have it deducted from hers. I just hate calling my lawyer for advice because I always get notice in the mail that they jack up the overall cost of my repayment plan and then my lawyer sends me a copy of the document that I receive from the Chp. 13 trustee and bills me for that as well.

You might need to do some more research on your Gov. Your state is in this mess because of the unions.

Anyway, that's cool.

As for the attorney, you are paying that dipshit, so call as many times as you want. I am a pest at my lawyers' office, and its too bad for them, because they got paid lots of cash for my case, and when I have questions, they need to have answers.

Good luck. And even though I totally disagree with your take on the Gov., I hope all goes good for you. My advice would be to be ruthless with your case. If it gets too stressful, try to convert to a 7. We were not created to live with this fear, God Bless!